Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles was a side
scrolling beat-em up
game released by
Konami in 1989. The
game’s release was
sandwiched between
the cartoon series,
which started in
1987, and the 1990
full length,
live-action movie.
There were both 2
and 4 player
versions of the game
available, allowing
the player to choose
their character
(Leonardo,
Michelangelo,
Donatello, or
Raphael). Each
character had their
unique qualities.
The premise of the
game was simple:
Rescue Splinter
(their master) and
April O’Neil (their
friend) from their
nemesis, Shredder.
Using combinations
of an 8-way
joystick, a jump
button, and an
attack button, the
player could perform
a number of special
moves, such as
throwing foot
soldiers over the
player’s back.
Players could also
use objects on the
screen to aid in the
defeat of the foot
soldiers, such as
exploding oil drums
and fire hydrants.
Bosses in the game
included Bebop,
Rocksteady, Baxter
Stockman, Granitor,
General Traag, Krang,
and of course
Shredder.

Many
of you played
versions of this
game on your NES,
which was one of the
more popular
Nintendo games
released. In later
years, the game was
re-released for
Xbox, PlayStation,
and the GameCube
(Wii).